By Christine Agro
The Metaphysical Feminist
In the United States 'preventative care' seems to focus on the tests and scans that can offer early detection of diseases. It focuses on the medications that can slow these diseases when identified. It focuses on counseling for tobacco, alcohol and drug addiction. That's not preventative care in my mind. To me, preventative care is education and a focus on supporting the body naturally through the foods we eat, the water we drink, the lives we live and the natural remedies that support the body's ability to heal.
Why is it so impossible in a country with such a wealth of intellegence and means to understand that prevention is what we do BEFORE we get sick. How can we live in a country with such tools, skills and access to information and NOT understanding that we would be healthier and happier if we focused on our wellness rather than on our illness.
Unfortunately, I do know the answer. There is no money, no patents, no research grants, no big investors to buy into true wellness. Money is made on our illness or our fear of illness. The sicker we are, the more money is made. Insurance companies make money because we need to be covered for the cost of tests, scans and medications. Doctors make money because we turn to them to tell us if we are O.K. Drug companies make money by creating drug after drug, the side-effects of which often times create the need for yet another drug. And the list goes on.
It is time that we redefine the words 'preventative care'. When we hear these words used in the mainstream media they are attached to mammograms, prostate exams, sonagrams and stress-tests, but this isn't preventative care this is 'Let's find out if you're already sick' care .
True preventative care requires that we each take responsibility for our own health and wellness. That we educate ourselves, because no one else is going to - not the media, not the government, not the drug companies. We need to educate ourselves about things like water quality, food quality, genetic modification of foods, the dangers in bath and body products and why they are dangerous to our health and wellness, the true connection between stress and health, and so many other things that either keep us well or make us sick.
And then we need to act. Our spending power is greatly influential as is our voting power. If everyone demanded that their water be truly safe to drink, if everyone demanded that Genetically Modified Foods be banned, if everyone insisted that their fruits and vegetables be organic, that's what we would have. But we don't. We go through our days and unless something directly affects us, we do nothing, say nothing, demand nothing. This isn't the freedom that the United States offers, this is complacency, this is denial, this is laziness.
This country was built on a demand for freedom, unity, and a government of the people. Today, those who speak up, who buck the trend, who call for change are often labeled as 'nut jobs', 'wackos' or 'hippies' or worse carted off to jail.
It is time that we stop trusting what we are told and instead take back our power and get informed.
Our bodies are amazing machines with capabilities that most of us have not even begun to realize. Take your trust out of the hands of others, out of the hands of people who make money off of every ill-informed choice you make, and put the trust into your own body. Support it, love it, nurture it and start on a journey of true preventative care.
